Smoke and Mirrors
by Chaos Supernova
Summary: Mayumi "Maya" Sumiko is a brilliant geneticist who just got a job offer at Sander Industries, the biggest black market empire in New York, guaranteeing a high position and lots of money. So of course she'd take it, right? Even if the job isn't exactly...ethical. The more Maya works on Project Mirror, the more she realizes it isn't very clear at all.
1. Offer

Smoke and Mirrors

Chapter One

Today, Mayumi Sumiko would accomplish something revolutionizing. It would change the scientific world, leaving precocious, respected scientists wondering "How the h*ll did she do that?" and Mayumi, or better known as Maya, utterly fascinated.

She had no idea what was going to happen.

…

"And with the regenerative theorem of Dr. H. Marcus, combined with my own hypothesis of the Stable Gene, in theory, I should be able to stabilize any super-serum you might make, which would mean that you, Mr. Sanders, could create super-powered people. Biologically manipulative super-powered people, where you could, when creating the genetic code, splice particularly desirable genes, if you could get the blood of the subject who has the genes in question. Are you still considering my employment now, Mr. Sanders?" Maya straightened her back, staring at the man.

Mr. Jacob Sanders scratched the stubble on his chin thoughtfully. "I didn't understand some of that science-y talk, but I got the gist of it, and I d*** well want to hire you. You say you're the one who can make me super-powered people, I want those super-powered people. In fact, I have test subjects ready for you," he said in his Southern drawl.

Maya raised her eyebrows. "Live?"

"They're teens, they're sleeping. The information on the tablet should explain everything," he said.

"Of course. When should I start? And, do you have the blood of a super-powered individual for me to work with?" she asked. This was a big job, a job that could potentially skyrocket her to stardom, maybe even get her known as the scientific genius she knew she was.

"Quit 'yer worryin'. I do. I sent some of my best men out there, told them to rob a bank, hold some hostages, kill a few people, maybe. Sure enough, that little gang of superkids was on the scene. One of the guys sprayed that new DNA or whatsit mist that one of y'all nerds cooked up, y'know, the 'blood sweat' one? I planted a civilian in there, they got the blood after the superkids left to get my men to jail or whatever. In those vials, Miss Sumiko," he said, gesturing to the vials of reddish-bronze liquid that were sitting on the table Mr. Sanders was leaning on. Maya had seen them earlier, and she knew what they were, but she wasn't quite sure, so she didn't say anything. Maya and Mr. Sanders were in the conference room of Sander Industries, Jacob Sander's black market business. Mr. Sanders was easily a billionaire, but no one knew, due to his company specializing and selling some…shady…things. Sander Industries sold thugs for hire, secret information, they even gave payouts to aspiring villains, who's pay them back, of course. And if they couldn't, they'd pay for it with their life.

It was a high paying, but high risk job. And Maya knew the saying — no risk, no reward. She had faith in herself, and her invention would mean hundreds, no, _thousands_ , or villains would depend on Sander Industries. And Mr. Sanders promised her a high position in the company and a s***load of money if that happened.

"What 'er ya waitin' for? I hired you, Miss Sumiko, so get to work! You have Lab 220 to yourself, it's got all the latest toys, don't you worry." Mr. Sanders stood up, handed her a tablet which she assumed had the information on it, and walked out of the room.

"Of course, sir!" She called after him. She hurried out of the conference room, and found the elevators, as the labs were on floor -10. Sander Industries was located in the Byrd Building, an suspicious office building. However, Mr. Sanders owned the Byrd Building, and while the less suspicious employees, the ones that handled the finances and whatnot, worked upstairs, the _real_ work happened downstairs, in the belly of the beast.

When the elevator opened, she looked up from her tablet (courtesy of Sander Industries) and stepped in, eyes still glued to her tablet. Once she had finished reading about her job, she had begun to study a map of the Byrd Building.

"Hi," a voice said next to her. She glanced up, and saw a man who looked like he just turned twenty, maybe less, standing in front of her. His hair was parted in the middle and curled around his eyes, the kind of haircut that was popular when she was a kid, and chestnut brown hair. He was thin, but she could see the outline of muscles under his t-shirt. Not that she was analyzing him, because she didn't even know his name, and that would be weird, and, oh, forget it.

"Hi…" she replied, unsure of what to say, something that didn't happen often to Mayumi Sumiko. "I'm new here," she said, heat rushing to her face.

"I could tell. No badge, looking at a map, well…you make it obvious," he said with a smirk.

"I suppose I do…" She squinted, looking at the man's badge. "Shawn Rider."

"Yes. Yes you do, umm…what's your name?" He tilted his head a little in question, making Maya smile a little. Why, she didn't know.

"Mayumi Sumiko," she said. "But most people just call me Maya."

"Well, Maya, you do make it very obvious you're a newbie. Where do you work? We don't get a lot of new people down under." Maya laughed a little at Shawn's nickname for under the building.

"I'm a geneticist. With a little bit of chemist. Mr. Sanders wants me to work on…a project." She bit her lip, knowing she probably shouldn't tell Shawn about what she was working on.

"Project Mirror?" he asked.

She raised an eyebrow, surprised. "Yes, that one. Do you work on it, too?"

"Actually, yeah, I'm the field trainer. If the project works out, that is. Then I'm outta luck." he said.

"I'll make it work. I know what I'm doing, trust me." The elevator dinged, and Shawn walked out. Maya followed, as the Project Mirror had floor -10 to itself.

"I sure hope you do," Shawn replied, and then headed over to a blonde woman in a lab coat, a scientist, most likely. He started talking to her, and the woman leaned over and she kissed him lightly on the cheek, and went into Lab 225. From her map, Maya knew that as the Field Training room. Shawn followed her.

Maya quickly looked away. A romantic relationship on the job? She thought. Now that's just unprofessional. She made a note to now avoid Shawn, and whoever that blonde scientist was. She wouldn't get involved with unprofessionals.

She scanned the doors for Lab 220, and after a moment, she found it. She opened the metal door, with the key card in her pocket that Mr. Sanders had given her after her presentation, and the door slid open, revealing to what Maya thought might be heaven.

Holy mother of all laboratories, this was the _one_! All of the equipment was a sleek, shiny polished silver, and Maya saw the allotted subject cases in the middle of the room. In back of the subject cases was a lab station, the kind with the holographic, interactive display, the kind she'd always dreamed of having. And the vials of blood were on the polished metal table of the lab station.

She smiled, knowing it was time to get to work. She headed towards the lab station, pulling up the holographic interface. She studied the labels on the vials. "Iron Fist, Spider-Man, Nova, Power-Man, White Tiger," she read aloud to herself, fingering the vials. "Computer, bring up profiles on Iron Fist, Spider-Man, Nova, Power-Man, and White Tiger," she said to the display.

The computer complied, and profiles on the teen heroes were scattered on the display. She quickly read each one, focusing on their powers. "Now…what if we had an invincible Iron Fist?" She murmured, a smile playing along her lips. She took the vials of the said heroes' blood, putting a drop under the microscope at the lab station.

Maya pulled her sky-blue reading glasses out of her pocket, fixing them on her face. "Power-Man's blood was altered by a serum. I can work with that. And Iron Fist…" Her eyes widened as she studied the hero's blood, the DNA, on the display. "What the h*ll is up with him?" she whispered. "This isn't natural…this isn't man-made…he must be…I dunno, godly or something…" But then she smiled. "I can use it, though. It says here that he's a master of the martial arts, so that'll have to be trained, but the iron fist power…it's imbued in his DNA. Which means I can use it."

She then set to work. Copying strands of DNA, mixing DNA, picking and choosing which strands to use. She had finally gotten a suitable mixture when she looked at her watch, realizing it was almost 9:00 PM. Maya didn't care, though. H*ll, she'd work through the night. She labeled the serum "Power Fist" and set it on the display.

Maya then worked on her stabilizing serum. With the chemicals and resources there, it didn't take her very long. With the stabilizing serum and the "Power Fist" serum in her hands, she went over to the first of the subject cases. Inside was a teenager. Yes, a human teenager. Sander Industries had gotten babies from the local orphanage about 14 years ago, and had set them in the subject cases, which, when a new model came out, were replaced. The children were on life support, in a way, as they had been sleeping since Sander Industries had gotten them, with some of Sander Industries's finest minds made solutions and serums to make sure that they were well nourished, muscle decay would be prevented, their minds would develop correctly (tampering with dreams) and that when they woke up, they would have all motor functions of a normal teenager. There were people that took care of them, periodically took them out of the subject cases, but that was when they were younger, and once they got older, they had been left alone more. Most would call it unethical and cruel, but Maya, and the lab workers at Sander Industries, would call it science.

She didn't feel any guilt or remorse. She had taught herself to not feel a long time ago. Her favorite character in Star Trek, her favorite movies and TV show, had always been Spock, he was the reasonable, logical one, and always had a plan. Kirk was the loose canon, the one who did the "right thing" even if the right thing wasn't always the necessary thing to do. He was unpredictable, which was never good.

Pushing her thoughts aside from Star Trek, she injected the "Power Fist" serum first into the teenage girl. There were, out of four kids, two girls, and two boys. When the girl began to twitch and convulse, Maya quickly injected the stabilizing serum. The girl settled down, back into her deep sleep.

Maya wondered whether she should wake the girl up or not. The girl would ask questions, that was a given. Of course, that was only if her mind developed correctly, if she didn't die from muscle decay when she woke up, if she had motor functions. That was a lot of ifs, to many for Maya's liking.

So she decided to call Mr. Sanders. Wait, no, Mr. Sanders wasn't a scientist, he'd just tell her to wake the girl up, without even doing any precautions or safety measures. She didn't know who the head of the project was, the only scientist on Project Mirrors she knew was…Shawn.

Sighing, she left her lab, her new haven, to Lab 225, in hopes of finding Shawn. "Shawn?" she yelled through the door. "Are you in there?"

She heard a muffled "yes" and Shawn opened the door, his hair slicked with sweat, and his t-shirt soaked. He grabbed a towel from a table near the door, putting it around his neck. "Sorry. I was training." Maya peeked behind him, seeing a full blown gym, and a whole lot of punching bags.

She also saw the blonde scientist from before watching Shawn. She looked the same as before, and she wasn't sweaty at all, she was holding a tablet much like Maya's. Instead of asking her original question, she asked, "Who's that?" pointing the the blonde scientist.

"Her? Oh, that's Stephanie. She's one of the trainers, too. But in a different way. You see, while I'm the combat trainer," he said, gesturing to the gym. "She's helping the test subjects get adjusted to the world, you know, take them out of the lab and stuff. So they act like normal human beings."

"Except they're not normal human beings," Maya argued. "I just administered the serums to Test Subject One. I was actually going to ask you if I should wake her up."

Stephanie looked up from her tablet at Maya. "Well, I suppose you should, but after the safety precautions. And wake her up in a different environment. Shawn, you said the apartments upstairs are ready?"

"Last time I checked, yeah. So, Maya, what did you give her?" His gray eyes met Maya's.

"Well, I gave her the 'Power Fist' serum, a combination of Power-Man and Iron Fist's DNA, which enables her to have unbreakable skin, and the iron fist. You'll have to teach her in combat, though." Maya smiled inwardly, pleased at her creation.

Shawn whistled appreciatively. "Wow. Kid's powerful. That's a good combination. I just hope she takes well to..." He waved his hand across the room. "All this."

"If you'd like, I could alter her genetic code to-"

Shawn cut her off by holding up a hand. It seemed to Maya he gesticulated a lot. "Woah, no, no. I didn't mean that. If you genetically alter the kid, it'll just freak her out more, okay?"

Maya didn't really understand why Shawn reacted like that, but not everyone was in love with science as much as her. She understood that. "Fine, but it is a possibility, if things go wrong. Are there other scientists to preform the precautions?"

"There should be, but I don't know where they are..." Stephanie frowned. "But I can help, if you want. I'll send a call to the Project Mirror scientists." She then went back to her tablet, tapping away. "And...here. Francesca and Chloe will be in Lab 220 in a few minutes."

Shawn furrowed his eyebrows. "Why'd you have to call Francesca?" he whined. "She's, like, in love with me."

"Sorry, but I like to watch her flirt with you. It's one of my only sources of amusement on this job," she said, laughing.

Shawn pouted. "I hate you."

"Wouldn't be the first time," Stephanie said, smirking.

Maya assumed that they were probably good friends, and what she had seen earlier was just a sign of friendly affection. Stephanie and Shawn seemed like fun people to be around, and Maya knew that she probably needed more fun in her life. Even if her idea of fun was creating serums and hypotheses.

"I really mean it this time."

Stephanie snorted. " _Sure_ you do."

Shawn didn't reply.

"That's what I thought," Stephanie said. She got up from the sofa she was on, and smoothed her pristine white lab coat. The only person Maya had seen in the 'down under' without a lab coat was Shawn. Not that she had seen many people, but still.

Stephanie opened the door for Maya, who nodded a thank you. They looked at Shawn, not moving. "I'm not coming," he said, his arms crossed.

Stephanie sighed. "Yes, you are."

"Under what authority?"

"The authority of being your best friend."

Shawn groaned. "Fine." He joined them, and they went to Lab 220 together.

Maya realized that she had never really been part of a friend group before. Sure, groups like classes, but never with actual friends. That is if Shawn and Stephanie wanted to be her friends. She really didn't know.

In Lab 220, a brunette and a dark blonde were already observing Test Subject One. "Hi Shawnie!" the dark blonde squealed.

"Oh dear god why..." Shawn muttered under his breath.

"So, are YOU excited to FINALLY wake up one of the test subjects? It's been like, forever. This is going to be so COOL!" Maya assumed the dark blonde was Francesca, by the sound of it. And her sing-song voice.

Shawn nodded in response, backing away a little from Francesca. Maya noticed that Chloe, the brunette, hadn't said a word, unlike Francesca. "Hi Shawn," Chloe said quietly.

"Hey," he replied, glancing at Chloe. Chloe smiled at him before adjusting the subject case. As Chloe was working, Francesca hovered near Shawn, talking his ear off, while Shawn smiled through gritted teeth and nodded. Maya took back what she had thought about him earlier, he was surprisingly professional.

As Maya was new to Sander Industries, she could only watch as Stephanie and Chloe adjusted the influx of the various serums and drugs Test Subject One was on, and tapped buttons on the tablet embedded in the headboard of the subject case. They then draped a white sheet over the glass front of the subject case, and Chloe pressed a button on the side, causing the subject case to rise into the air, floating. To anyone else, this would seem magical, but Maya knew exactly how they did it. There was a reason she was this accomplished at 21.

Stephanie and Chloe guided the subject case down the hall and to the elevators, while Maya and Shawn followed, Francesca hot on Shawn's heels. Maya slowed down a little, sidling up to Shawn. "See if you can lose her around a sharp turn or something," she whispered.

Shawn snorted. "Francesca might act dumb, but she's smarter than she looks. Specializing in biology."

"Makes sense. And, um, how are Stephanie and Chloe going to get the subject case – even though covered – through the upstairs level?" Maya said.

"The entire upstairs works for Sander Industries. They'll turn a blind eye to anything strange, I mean, this is the most profitable black market empire in New York. The upstairs workers have come to expect this by now," Shawn explained.

"Oh." She was silent for a moment. "What do you think Mr. Sanders wants to do with them? The test subjects?" No. No empathy. Empathy was foreign to her, and she knew it.

Shawn thought. Finally, he said, "I'm not sure. I've been with Mr. Sanders for a while now, and he isn't really the kind that wants to take over the world. More like just get money from it."

A thought struck Maya. "Maybe he'll put them out for hire? You can already hire thugs from him, why not superhumans?"

"Probably. Sounds like him." Shawn furrowed his eyebrows. "I just hope they aren't slaves, and more...workers."

"I hope," she agreed.

They had come to the elevators. Stephanie and Chloe pushed the subject case on board, Maya stood, watching the floors go up, and Shawn tuned out Francesca's ramblings. Francesca was still talking. She annoyed Maya.

Finally, the elevator dinged. They got out, and Maya got her second view of the upper level. For one thing, it was considerably brighter than the 'down under'. But that didn't matter to her, she spent most of her time inside anyway. The people weren't wearing white lab coats, they wore office clothes, and they sat in desks, not labs. It reminded Maya of the yin and yang sign, the former being downstairs, and the latter being upstairs.

As Shawn had predicted, no one even seemed to notice the lab people pushing a floating human-sized box down hall of the offices. Then again, there were only the night workers, so there were considerably less people. But still. They went up a flight of stairs, where everyone helped get the subject case up the stairs, to the apartments. From what Mr. Sanders had told her, the 'down unders' lived in the Byrd Building. The top three floors were dedicated to housing, and the apartments were very upscale and modern. Maya had accepted the offer to live there, though she didn't move in yet.

There was the 'Mirror' wing, the wing which the eight apartments were, five for the teens, and three for the handlers. Maya didn't know who the handlers were yet, though she hoped that she was one. To see how her project turned out.

They came to the apartment door labeled "Test Subject One" on a piece of paper, and Shawn opened the door for Stephanie, Chloe, and the subject case. Inside the apartment, one wall of the room was glass, providing a beautiful view of New York below them, there was a white queen size bed along the far wall, and a vanity and closet on the wall across from the door. The walls were painted a bright lime green, a color Maya liked. All in all, what Sander Industries was doing for them wasn't that bad. They were orphans, after all, and were lucky that Sander Industries decided to test on them.

Stephanie, Chloe, and even Francesca helped Test Subject One out of the subject case, laying her on the bed, but not unhooking her from the serums. Her nearly waist length, dark brown, almost black hair fanned behind her. She was thin, unnaturally so, but that was to be expected, and they'd have her on a real food diet soon enough. She was dressed in a hospital gown, as all of the subjects were. Chloe moved to unhook her, but Stephanie cut her off.

"Wait," she said, pulling Chloe back. "Shouldn't she have a name? I mean, I wouldn't want to be called 'Test Subject One', and we need something for the rest of her team and other people to call her..."

"OFFICE POOL!" Shawn cheered.

"Okay. I'm gonna go with...Misty," Francesca said.

"I think Emerald. She can be called Emmy for short," Chloe suggested.

"Bay?" Stephanie said.

"I like Rain," Shawn stated.

Maya thought. "I like Bay," Maya said. She agreed with Stephanie.

"I kind of like that," Shawn said, nodding.

Chloe and Francesca nodded.

"Okay, so can I wake her up now?" Chloe asked.

"Yes. Just – just be careful, though. We don't know what we're dealing with," Stephanie said, a hint of nerves in her voice. Maya couldn't agree more.

As Chloe undid the tubes and wires hooked up to the girl, Bay, Maya wondered if the girl would be fazed by the people around her. She hoped not.

They gathered around the bed, where the girl was beginning to twitch and move. Her eyes fluttered open for the first time in many years, revealing hazel eyes. They widened, taking in the world around her.

 **The next chapter will be from Bay's POV. Tell me, please, what you thought of the story, and the characters! It'll tie in more with USM, I promise.**


	2. Awake

Smoke and Mirrors

Chapter Two

Bay

 _They gathered around the bed, where the girl was beginning to twitch and move. Her eyes fluttered open for the first time in many years, revealing hazel eyes. They widened, taking in the world around her._

People. People, she thought, were surrounding her. Like her. Well, she thought they were like her. She wasn't sure what she looked like. But she knew that, from the teachers, the things before her were called people, and she herself was a people. Person, singularly.

She didn't know what was going on. She had been in school, where the teachers were telling her that she would soon be in the real world. They said that people would be there to help her, to guide her out of school. This is what she had been preparing for her entire life. Her journey out of sleep. Even though it didn't feel like sleep. Or what was described as sleep.

And now here she was, in what the teachers claimed was the real world. The world outside of school, outside of sleep. The world of the living, as they'd called it. As if she wasn't living.

She didn't know what to say. She didn't know if she _could_ talk. She had talked in school, responded to the questions the teachers gave her, but this was the Real World, something completely foreign.

Then she heard something. "Can you talk?" she heard one of the...women, they looked like, say.

She thought of the answer to that. Yes, she could talk, but could she? Could she talk in this world? She remembered what the teachers told her to do – just talk like you would in school, in English, moving your mouth. She did move her mouth, but she didn't hear anything come out. That probably meant the others didn't hear it as well. You were only talking if you heard something, and you were thinking if only yourself heard something, as she'd learned a while back.

A woman, with shiny black hair and funny shaped eyes, handed her a plastic cup. She looked inside, and there was water inside, something she never actually tried but knew plenty about. As she learned, she held the cup up to her lips (anatomy class) and drank, letting the water fill her mouth, and then go down. It felt refreshing, something she never felt before in school.

She then realized she could _feel_ everything, something the teachers told her she would experience. The five senses, only two of them were active in school, in her dreams. The teachers told her that in the Real World, she would be able to feel things, to taste things, to smell things. She knew what all of these things were, of course, through science class, but she had never really...knew them. She was aware, she could smell the people, one woman had perfume on, she could feel the comforter beneath her, she could taste...well, she could taste the water, still on her tongue. It was overwhelming, like everything was just crashing down on top of her.

Then it all came back to her. She had experienced this before, she...remembered. When she was a lot smaller, she remembered being in the Real World, a woman brushing her hair, the feel of the brush against her hair. Then, when she was slightly smaller than she was now, a woman changing her clothes, the feel of the fabric against her. Granted, she hadn't been fully aware then, like she was now, but she still vaguely remembered those things, not that she ever had before, which was strange. She thought she'd remember something like that.

She moved her tongue around in her mouth, swishing the saliva around, tasting it. It tasted a little like the water. She tried to talk again. "Yes," she heard, coming from her, because that was what she was trying to say.

"Oh, good. That makes things a whole lot easier. Do you want to know where you are right now?" a woman with blonde hair asked gently.

"Yes," she said again, her voice louder, more confident. "Is this the Real World?"

The man, the only man in the room, laughed. A sound the teachers said was laughter, a sound that acknowledged when something was funny. She didn't know what she said that was funny. "Yeah, kid. You're here now. Hope it doesn't disappoint you."

It hadn't disappointed her so far, it had fascinated her. "Okay," she responded. "Thank you," she added. It seemed right.

"Welcome, kid."

Welcome. As in welcome back, or – oh, right. You're welcome. "You were saying you were going to tell me where I was?" she said to the light blonde woman. Her hair blended in with her pale skin.

"Oh yeah. Well, you're in your room right now, in the heart – middle – of the Byrd Building, an office, and in your case, apartment building. You're a part of an e-, um, a project called Project Mirror, where you and your teammates, people who have been woken up like you, who you have yet to meet, have powers, that may or may not have set in right now. You work for a man called Mr. Sanders, the owner of Sander Industries, who gave you these powers. He'll give you missions, and in return, you get free housing, food, an unlimited credit card, and everything you could need or want. A pretty good deal, in my opinion," she said, smiling at her.

"I guess so. Can I see the others?" she asked. People like her. Someone she could relate to, that was what she needed.

"Not yet, they're not awake yet. Now, I'm going to tell you something you might've already guessed – you've been asleep for fifteen years." she said.

Fifteen years? That was...she did the math quickly in her head. About 5,475 days. A lot of days, and days were twenty four hours. An hour was the length of a class. Or at least that was what she had been told, as the teachers said that time moved differently in the Real World.

"So school wasn't real. Sure, you learned things, but it wasn't really _real_ , it wasn't real life. This is real life," she said, gesturing to the room around her. "Do you know your name?"

She thought. She hadn't ever been called anything by any of the teachers, she realized. She never called herself anything. "No..." she said uncertainly.

"It's Bay. And as for us, I'm Stephanie, that's Maya-" Stephanie pointed to the woman with funny eyes. "That's Shawn-" She pointed to the man, "and they're Francesca and Chloe," she said, pointing to the brunette and the other blonde.

"Well, nice to meet you all..." she said, trailing off.

"Hey, don't be shy. We're your friends, not your supervisors or whatever. H*ll, I'm only a few years older than you are. I'm 18. I can't even legally drink yet." He smirked. "That doesn't mean I don't, though."

Bay, as she now knew, raised an eyebrow. Shawn seemed like the bad boy stereotype she had read in school. Her dreams. Whatever. She studied him, the brown hair that curled over his blue eyes. He reminded her of a character in one of those teen reality shows she had seen in school, to see how people talk, act and live.

"You said you never drank again after that one party!" Stephanie hissed at Shawn. Shawn just smirked.

"Well, I lied."

"I swear to god, you little-" Her eyes flickered to Bay. "I'll continue this later. So, Bay, is there anything you'd like to do in the real world, as you call it?"

Bay thought. She didn't even know where to begin. "I don't know, maybe catch up on the news?" It seemed like the right thing to do, considering she'd been asleep for fifteen years. When she was old enough to understand things like the news, the teachers had told her things going on in the Real World, but they hadn't really dwelt on it.

Shawn rolled his eyes. "That's boring. Don't you wanna go out, see the world?"

"I'll see the world after I know what's going on in it."

He sighed. "Whatever. Tell me if you want to do something fun." He then left her room.

She smiled. "I will. Now, do any of you sensible people have any news articles?"

Stephanie gave her a laptop that was sitting on the small table overlooking the view of New York, as Bay learned where they were. Bay had learned how to use a laptop in school, and used it with ease. She had mostly seen articles and videos about global problems, like world hunger, the nuclear disaster, animal species going extinct, and other depressing things like that.

She flicked through different articles, until one picture, full of people in bright clothing and different weapons. The article was labeled "Avengers Save The World After Defeating Ultron". Her head tilted, something Bay noticed she did a lot, and clicked on it.

Apparently, the Avengers were some sort of team of people with superpowers. Like Stephanie had said about her. She looked around her room, Maya was there, but Stephanie and the others weren't. "Hey, um, Maya?" she said. Maya didn't really talk much, so Bay felt a little unnerved by her.

Maya glanced up from her tablet at Bay. "Yes?"

"Who are the Avengers?"

"Well, the Avengers are superheroes, as we call them. They have powers or exceptional skills, and use those powers and skills to defend Earth against global threats. Why?"

"I just found an article on here. I was just wondering. You said they have powers, though? Like me?" Powers. It was funny, she thought. She hadn't lived a normal childhood, now she had special abilities no one else had – how could she be more different? At least she'd have teammates to take comfort in. To talk to.

A family.

Maya broke her out of her thoughts, thankfully. "Actually, yeah. Except that the Avengers just kind of do whatever whenever. They don't follow anyone, they just go help when help is needed. You don't. You take orders."

She was beginning to think that she had missed out on a lot of life. It made her sad. And then it made her angry, for Project Mirror taking away her childhood, her life.

Her family?

"Why can't we be like the Avengers?" Bay asked, tilting her head. It was an honest question. She had read a lot and watched loads of reality shows, and she knew that some people in the world were just bad. Bad people, for whatever reasons. And now she was thinking that these "Project Mirror" people might be some of them.

"Because life isn't fair," Maya said simply, sipping her steaming drink and staring out the window.

 **OFFICE POOL! What are your suggestions for names for the remaining kids? (Boy, boy, and girl.)**

 **Don't forget to follow, favorite, and review!**

 **What was your favorite line? I'm always a sucker for dialogue, so please tell me what I'm doing well and what needs work!**


	3. Hal

Smoke and Mirrors

Chapter Three

Maya

 _"Because life isn't fair," she said simply, sipping her steaming hot drink._

Maya was an expert at reading people, but even someone who wasn't an expert could tell that Bay was upset. She assumed it was because she had just realized fifteen years or so of her life had been taken away from her. Or the fact that she had no family. Had they told her she was an orphan? She didn't think they had. Best to keep most of the details away from her for now.

Ignorance really is bliss.

The girl was still hunched over a laptop. She was practical, and Maya liked that about her. Unlike people like Shawn, she opted to do the sensible thing.

"I have some work to do, are you okay with Stephanie?" Maya asked Bay. Of course she was, Stephanie was her handler, but it was polite to ask.

Bay nodded. "Yeah. What are you doing?" She asked the question casually, but Maya wondered if this had to do with her possible mistrust of Project Mirror. Maya didn't blame her, they were being secretive. All for a good reason, though.

Maya decided to tell her the truth. She deserved it. It also might give her some doubts about initially not trusting her. "I'm going to go wake up your teammates," she said. "Well, one of them. We have to do it one at a time, due to technical reasons."

She hoped Bay wouldn't question her "technical reasons", but she did it anyway. Even though that made her like Bay even more, she sighed in frustration when Bay asked "What do you mean, 'technical reasons'?" putting air quotes around "technical reasons".

"You want answers?"

Bay nodded vigorously.

"Well, as Stephanie told you, you're part of Project Mirror, which means a couple of scientists like yours truly are trying to give you powers. You'll use these powers in accordance to Mr. Sanders's rules and orders. Don't bother asking why, because that's just the way things are. You don't always get a choice in life."

"Oh."

Maya looked at her, and for what could have been the first time, she actually felt a small pang of sympathy for the girl. She didn't say anything, though, and walked out to leave Bay staring at her laptop.

She hurried out.

She took the elevator back down to the lab, setting her tablet and tea down on a metal counter. She sifted through the remaining vials, thinking about what she could combine.

Iron Fist's blood and Power Man's blood was already used. Time to analyze the others.

She fitted Nova's blood into the custom microscope. Hmm...worthless. Regular human blood. His power must come from some sort of object. The helmet, maybe?

White Tiger's. Ugh, not _again!_ Human blood. Enhanced by some sort of artifact. Useless.

She called Mr. Sanders on her phone (also company issued). "Excuse me? Mr. Sanders? This is Mayumi Sumiko. Your geneticist?"

"Yes, yes, I remember you, I met you only yesterday. Is there some sort of problem?" he responded impatiently.

"Somewhat. Two of the blood samples – White Tiger's and Nova's – are human blood, they must be augmented somehow. Do you by any chance have other samples?" She crossed her fingers.

"As a matter of fact, I do. Some from New Warriors. Got it through the same kind of heist. I have Cloak and Dagger, Squirrel Girl, and we managed to get a sample from potential S.H.I.E.L.D recruits, Speedball and Echo. The blood samples are in the cabinet below the holographic display. Does this suffice?"

Giddy, she nodded, even though she knew he couldn't see her. "More than enough. Thank you so much."

"Just get me my super-soldiers." With that, he hung up.

Maya went over to the cabinet below the display and sure enough, the vials were there. She took them out and placed one of them – Squirrel Girl's – into the microscope.

Squirrel Girl's DNA wasn't very remarkable or interesting. She had a gene that made it possible to intercept the brainwaves of squirrels, as well as a fluffy tail, apparently, and enhanced agility and flexibility, but that was it. She had four other samples that she could work with, anyway.

She put Echo's into the machine. Echo had a remarkable modified gene it seemed, that affected the brain, so she could mimic any action no matter how much skill she had in the area, such as dancing, or fighting styles. Useful.

She could use Squirrel Girl's enhanced reflexes. Hmm... Splicing, editing, and combining, it was mid afternoon until she had perfected the serum. She briefly wondered what Bay was doing, but focused her attention on the serum.

Maya decided to call it the Flux serum. It made sense to her; an object constantly in motion. She grabbed the stabilizing serum off the lab table.

Test Subject Two... She walked over to the subject cases, serums in hand. Test Subject Two was a boy, the oldest of the group, at sixteen, she had read. She opened the subject case.

She gingerly injected the Flux serum. When the boy began to convulse, she grabbed the stabilizing serum.

She breathed a slight sigh of relief. She was good at what she did, but even the best could make mistakes. Maya hated mistakes. They were a waste of time and energy.

She pulled a white sheet over the subject case, and pressed the hover button. She could have called Francesca or Chloe, but she decided not to, seeing as...well, seeing as she kind of just wanted to do this herself.

People weren't necessarily something she enjoyed, just tolerated. When it came to herself or someone else, it wasn't even a question. And this was her project, her brainchild. Hers.

Bay was nice, though. Maya had liked Bay. She had...cared for her. Bay was her project, after all. It made sense. Very very logical sense.

She was about halfway down the hall to the Project Mirror wing of apartments when she saw Bay.

Bay was staring at her – no, staring at the subject case. She tentatively took a step toward Maya and Maya did her best to smile gently at her. "You can see it, if you want."

Bay grazed the top of the case with her hand. "Can I see it?"

Maya shrugged. Why not? "Sure. Just don't get too freaked out."

Bay's eyes widened as she took the sheet off. Oops. Maya hadn't exactly told her there was a person inside. "What – what is this?" Bay asked, hazel eyes still wider than a doe's.

"It's Project Mirror. It's not like the subjects can be awake the entire time, we have to let them sleep. Right now he's in what you call School. A sleep state." It was the truth, and nothing but the truth. Maya just hoped she hadn't revealed too much information to Bay.

"You...you just keep children asleep like this? Take away their entire life?" Bay said, her voice hardening.

Maya spread her hands helplessly. "That's the world."

"The world is a messed up place."

Maya nodded silently in agreement.

Bay's eyes remained transfixed on the case. "Who is he?"

"Right now? I don't know. You can contribute to a name, if you want."

Her head tilted, as Maya noticed it usually did when she was thinking or confused. "I'll think about it."

"He's going to be your teammate, you know," Maya said, looking pointedly at her.

"I know."

"You're going to have to get used to this."

"I know."

Bay turned around, stealing one last glance at Maya and the case. She murmured something under her breath that Maya couldn't quite catch.

…

The boy was set up in Test Subject Two's respective room, a room with white walls and a layout exactly the same as Bay's, except the furniture was a charcoal gray color for the most part. Shawn had perched himself on an armchair facing the bed. Shawn reminded Maya a little of her cat, Spock, who was very sassy and liked to watch people with his intelligent gray eyes.

Francesca and Chloe were also there, as well as Stephanie. It was the same people as before, doing the same things as before, except for one thing that changed – Bay.

Maya figured it was only fair to ask Bay if she wanted to be there. To see what was really going on. And she'd ask the unnamed boy the same, for Test Subject Three's awakening. They deserved to know, to some extent. While she believed in gaining as much knowledge as possible, she still respected the fact that ignorance was bliss.

Needless to say, sometimes her bliss – her faith in people – was not as high as others.

The boy was wearing cotton sweatpants and no shirt. Maya wasn't even sure why, but it did make it easier for them to untangle the IV tubes, so she wasn't complaining. It did seem to make things awkward for Bay, though. Maya saw her swallow visibly and look away uncomfortably.

Shawn eyed the people in the room. "Office pool time?"

"Leo," Chloe said.

Francesca squinted. "Tristan?"

"Troy." Shawn continued to stare at them. Maya could just imagine Spock in his place.

"Jason," Maya suggested. He just kind of looked like a Jason. Jay was a cute nickname.

"I like Austin," Stephanie said.

They all glanced at each other. Neither one was backing down.

They held this for a moment, two, three.

"Halcyon," Bay blurted.

All heads turned to her.

"Gesundheit?" said Shawn. He blinked.

"Halcyon means happiness. Peace. I – I was good in school," she said, flushing.

They all smiled at her. "Halcyon's kind of long though. Maybe shorten it to Hal?" Stephanie said. She was clearly happy Bay had decided to join in.

Bay's lips quirked into a small smile. Maya noticed it was the first she'd ever seen on her. "Perfect."

"Hal it is, then," Stephanie summed. Chloe and Francesca hovered around the bed, twisting, turning, pulling various wires and tubes.

Hal began to twitch. It was normal. Until he started to convulse. His eyes snapped open, and his breathing was ragged.

Now all eyes in the room turned to Maya. "I-is this normal?" Bay said, staring at Hal.

"No," Maya said. "Francesca, Chloe, hold him down! Shawn, get the restraints from the subject case. Stephanie, you help him! I'll monitor his vitals." She ran over to the holographic display that was pulled up on the subject case, showing his vitals. His heart rate was way above usual, and climbing. She had no idea what had caused this, but she supposed she'd have to deal with it.

"Drugs-drugs-drugs-drugs-drugs..." she muttered. Tapping the display, she came to the option to influx morphine in, along with other drugs. But before she could choose, a wave of light – the soft, buttery kind, not harsh light – washed over them.

She turned around to see Bay with her hand on Hal's chest. His breathing had slowed, his vitals jumping down to normal. She looked just as surprised as them. "I-I'm sorry, I just – I don't know, I just thought-" Her hand was glowing a yellowish color. The Iron Fist.

Shawn put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, it's okay. That's good, right? Discovering your powers? I mean, we were going to help you with that, but I guess you're a natural, kid," he said, trying to lighten the mood.

Bay nodded numbly. "Yeah. I guess I am." She blinked, and suddenly, she collapsed.

Shawn and Stephanie rushed over to her, but she was already shakily getting back on her feet. "S-sorry, just..." She yawned. "Just tired..."

It must be her powers. Overexerting herself. Shawn and Stephanie seemed to think that, too, helping her to her room.

Francesca glanced at Maya. "Lunch break?"

…

Maya had reluctantly gone with them. Shawn had said to her that everything was under control, they had staff monitoring Hal and Bay, and she couldn't ignore the emptiness in her stomach. So she went out, going with them to a little hole-in-the-wall Chinese restaurant.

They had talked, and she had mostly listened, occasionally putting in her two cents. It felt good to be part of a group, she realized. People you could be comfortable around. The food wasn't that bad, too. They took some takeout for Hal and Bay back with them to the Byrd Building.

When they had arrived back, Francesca and Chloe had some matters they needed to take care of in the lab regarding the other subjects, so they split ways there. When they went up to the Project Mirror wing, they found Bay at the laptop, her hands curled around a mug of what Maya assumed was tea, as that was the only thing in the K-Cup machine. She jumped up when she saw them, running up to Shawn and snatching the bag out of his hands.

"Hey!" he said in protest.

Stephanie swatted him on the arm. "Oh, shut up, you were going to give it to her anyway."

Shawn rolled his eyes and sat down in the armchair facing Bay's. "Don't eat too fast. You'll get heartstroke."

"Heart _burn_ ," Maya corrected, snorting.

"Whatever. Same thing. What were you doing while we were gone?"

"Just finding out some more stuff about superheroes. The world. Etcetera. I'm assuming my powers are similar to Iron Fist's?" she asked.

"Yes, him and Power Man were the ones your powers are based on. Theoretically, you have the power of the iron fist – which apparently includes healing – and impervious skin."

Bay frowned. "Theoretically?"

"I hate to tell you this, but this – melding powers and injecting a serum into kids – has never been done before. We don't know what could happen."

"So what, you just subjected innocent children to an – an experiment? That's it, isn't it? Me, Hal, the others – we're just facts to you. Is that it?"

Maya met her glare. "Do you want the truth?"

"Yeah! I do! I don't know anything about – about why I'm here, what I am, WHO I even am!" Bay's face was flushed.

Maya matched her gaze calmly. She was a hard person to intimidate. "Yes. You are nothing but facts and numbers. An experiment. I understand you didn't ask to participate, but I think we've been over that many things in life simply don't have choices. This is one of them. If you can't deal with that fact, we will be forced to neutralize you. We won't have a choice. You don't have a choice."

Bay looked like she was about to snap, but instead she sunk back into the armchair. She put her face in her hands and started to cry.

Maya stood perfectly still. This was to be expected. She's a teenager, teenagers have unpredictable hormones that come in sporadic doses. It was normal.

Shawn blinked, once, twice, three times, as if blinking would help him do something. He settled for putting an arm around her.

Stephanie did the same. Seeing the three of them, Maya figured she should do something, too. Just to say that she wasn't a complete jerk.

Then the four of them were a human hug blob all crowded onto one armchair. They were all laughing, some of them laughing and crying at the same time (Bay).

"Am I interrupting something...?" a voice came from behind them. They turned around, to see Hal standing in the doorway.

 **I just love writing this! Would you guys be interested in a Christmas chapter? It would feature much fluff and family and cuteness, but there would also be two (minor) spoilers – the possible introduction of Test Subjects 3 and 4 early. Other than that, there would be no spoilers. I really want to write it, but if you want them to be a surprise, then I don't want to spoil that for you.**

 **Also, keep in mind Hal is supposed to be asleep, if you missed that.**

 **Favorite line? Part? Person? Still keep those name suggestions coming! Rose and Ben are my frontrunners right now.**


	4. Trapped

Smoke and Mirrors

Chapter Four

Bay

 _"Am I interrupting something...?" a voice came from behind them. They turned around, to see Hal standing in the doorway._

Hal.

Dark hair, dark eyes that reminded Bay of dark chocolate.

She took in a sharp breath. He just stood there, smirking, like he knew he came in at the wrong moment and didn't care.

He didn't look that bad shirtless, too.

The human hug-blob dissipated quickly as Shawn sat up in surprise, Maya raised her eyebrows, grabbing her tablet, and Stephanie ran over to him.

Bay sat there feeling awkward. They made eye contact for a second. Hal's smirk widened. Bay ducked her head to hide her blush.

Hal walked in, sitting in the armchair, like he owned the place. "So. Bay. What's the deal with you and me?"

He spoke with a slight accent. New York? That's what it sounded like, at least. She had no idea how he could pick up a New Yorker accent in school, but that's what it was.

Bay didn't respond.

He poked her on the shoulder. "I know you wanna say something."

"We're teammates," she said in her best Maya impression of numb and feelingless-ness.

"I know that." He pulled a furry white throw blanket from the white armchair he was in and wrapped it around himself.

Bay tilted her head. "Um, how exactly did you know that? I didn't know that when I...when I got here, I guess. I didn't know anything. How do you know this stuff?"

"The guy in the dream that I was with. He told me everything about Project Mirror. Everything about life. Speaking of which, I'm pretty pissed you took thirteen years of my life away from me."

Before anyone else could say anything, Bay said "Thirteen? I thought you were sixteen."

Hal shrugged. "I was three when I was brought here. The guy told me that, too. I don't really remember coming here, but I got a shot one day and that's when I went into sleep."

"Did you have a family?" Bay asked.

Hal gave her a strange look. "How much does she know?" he asked the others.

"I'm just gonna...go..." Shawn said, bolting. Stephanie rolled her eyes. She opened her mouth to say something, but Maya interrupted her.

"Not much. Her teacher actually followed job protocol. Speaking of which, the man you spoke of should be fired."

Hal jumped up, facing her. "Just because he had morals, unlike you? Maybe because he wanted to _try_ to make this a little more bearable for your guinea pigs, which are living, breathing _people_ that have thoughts and feelings just like _you_?"

Maya stood, stiff as a rail, not saying anything.

Hal's eyes were cold. "That's what I thought."

"Hal-" Stephanie started, but Hal cut her off, walking out of Bay's room.

Bay went after him.

…

Her mind and her heart were racing by the time she found him, leaning against the wall outside of the elevator at the end of the Project Mirror wing. He had changed, wearing a dark gray, long sleeved shirt, a pair of khakis, and tennis shoes. (She had changed while Maya and the others were gone, too, finding clothes in the dresser drawers.)

"They didn't send people after you?" she asked.

He smirked at her, _again_. "Oh, they did. I just took care of them." He nudged a person in a white lab coat with his foot.

Bay looked down, and much to her horror, there was a person there. Noticing her expression, Hal said, "They're not dead, just knocked out. None of these people can fight anyway, a good hit to the head is enough to get them out."

Her eyes flickered between the boy next to her and the person below her. "But – they – they're not bad people, just-"

His eyes hardened. "Oh, so they're not bad people even though they took _over a decade_ of your life away?" He laughed bitterly. "Look around you, Bay. Do you really think they care about you?"

She swallowed. She didn't ask for this. She didn't want this. And here Hal was, confirming what she already knew. "...no." 

He fixed his dark, warm eyes on hers. "Do you really want to stay here?"

"...no."

"Then we wait for the others to be woken up and we bide our time until we're sure we can get out of here."

Bay glanced at the elevator. "Couldn't we just...leave?"

"Probably, but they'd hunt us down. It's not like they're going to find other teenagers who would willingly subject themselves to be experimented on on a short notice, much less at all."

Bay nodded. "Plus," Hal said, "you don't want to be living on the streets, do you? We need some sort of financial security."

Bay nodded once again. "Fine. I'll take you back, tell the others you just ran off because you're a teenager and you're angsty." It was her turn to smirk at him. He batted her shoulder playfully.

" _Or_ I can just say that I was pissed off and wanted to change."

"That too."

They walked in a sort of amiable silence, the kind where it's not awkward, just quiet. And Bay liked it. Her shoulders brushed against Hal's. He didn't mind. She didn't, either.

Their eyes met, and he nodded, as they approached the door. She grabbed his arm and dragged – well, pretended to drag – him into the room.

She inhaled sharply when she saw what was inside. Maya and Stephanie were nowhere to be seen, and a platoon of armed soldiers surrounded them, dressed in black fatigues and pointing machine guns.

A man, well dressed in a sleek, two piece suit, smiled at them from inside the soldiers. "Well, what do we have here?" he asked, in an unfamiliar accent. Southern? Like something from a wild west movie.

Bay could tell Hal was tensing up. She honestly didn't know what to do, she wasn't a fighter, she was just some kid with a glowy fist, what _could_ she do?

"You're a smart kid, Hal. I'll give ya that. Your teacher has been...taken care of. God dang it, that man messed up the entire project..." he muttered. "But we'll just have to deal. Unfortunately, security cameras say you're plotting to leave us and take Miss Bay here with you, and security cameras don't lie. That's not good. It'll be a complication, but what can I say? We planned for complications. Mr. Ritter," the man said, motioning to a burly soldier beside him, "can you please take our friends here away?"

The soldier nodded, and he pressed something on his utility belt. Bay felt her vision flicker and her knees buckle, with nothing seeming to cause it. Her breathing quickened, until a flash of black took over.

…

She blinked. Had she passed out? She must have. She tried to push herself up, but she realized she couldn't. She was strapped down. There was clear glass above her.

Her heartbeat sped up. She didn't like this. She did not like this at all. The confinement was horrible. She struggled against the confinement. Jerking, pulling, twisting, whatever she could. She just. Had. To. Get. Out.

"Hey," a voice whispered from next to her. It wasn't Hal's. Not Maya's. Not Stephanie's. Not Shawn's. Not anyone she recognized.

"Just breath," it said. It wasn't deep, but it wasn't female. Like a teenage boy's voice that was in the middle of changing. "You'll be fine." 

She tried to respond, but her mouth was covered by a piece of cold plastic. This only made things worse.

A slender hand appeared on the edge of whatever container she was in. It hesitated for a moment, but pressed a button on the container. The lid melted backwards, until there was fresh air once again. She took a deep breath, vowing never again to be _trapped_ like that.

A boy stood over her, running a hand through his caramel hair. It seemed he had been doing that a lot, his hair was mussed. He took a deep breath. "I wasn't technically supposed to do that," he said, the words jumbled and rushed.

Bay rolled her eyes, how could she possibly respond? She grunted through the plastic as loud as she could.

His green eyes widened. "Oh! Right." He went to work undoing the straps. She took another glance at his eyes. They weren't quite green, they were gold, almost, like gold with flecks of green. She liked them.

His hands brushed against her. He was so gentle, it surprised her. He smiled at her, a bright smile that made his green-gold eyes shine.

She sat bolt upright, swinging her legs over the container. The boy nodded at it. "It's a subject case," he said. "At least, that's what they told me."

They. Them. Those words she associated with the Project Mirror people. "Who is _they_?" she said, suspicious.

He shrugged. "A lot of people. Stephanie, Shawn, and Maya, mostly."

Bay narrowed her eyes. _Them_. "Well, I'm sorry, um – what's your name?"

He grinned. "Ben Broderick," he said. He looked happy, in stark contrast to Bay when she first woke up.

She tilted her head. "You have a last name?"

He frowned. "...Yes? You don't?"

"I didn't have a name before they woke me up," she explained.

He blinked. "Oh. Yeah. The project thing."

She raised her eyebrows. "I take it you're not a part of Project Mirror, then?"

He shook his head rapidly. "No, no, I am, I just...wasn't like that. My mom's a scientist here. She asks me to help her out at work sometimes. Just little things, like helping in the lab, being her lab assistant, running errands for her...stuff like that. She asked me to watch over you while they handled some sort of 'situation'," he said, putting air quotes around situation.

Bay nodded. "Makes sense. Do you want to know what the situation was?" She didn't wait for an answer. "The fact that me and my teammate – Hal – wanted to get out of here, since they took our childhood from us and are forcing us to take orders from them or we die. And I didn't ask for these powers. I – I didn't ask for any of this," she said, her cheeks red, wiping the snot off her face.

Ben sat down on a lab table. "That _sucks_ ," he said solemnly.

Bay knew she was crying and did nothing to stop it. "It does. It really does. It's just, like, why does life have to be just this _unfair_?"

"I...I didn't know they did anything like that," Ben said, his green-gold eyes fixed on Bay.

She laughed without humor. "Can't you see? This is all just a game to them, and we're the playing pieces."

Ben stared at her. "What can I do?"

"Firstly, not tell anyone anything I said to you or that you know the truth about Project Mirror," she said, ticking them off her fingers, "second, help me find my friend," _Friend_ felt weird. But she supposed it was true. "And lastly, try to figure out what they're planning for us. That would be a huge help."

Ben nodded. "So be someone on the inside?"

"Yeah, pretty much." Bay scanned the room.

"Hal's over there," Ben said, leading her to a subject case across from hers. "He hasn't woken up, but I can do it if you want."

Bay nodded. Ben went to work, his fingers flying over keypads and holographic displays. She watched, mesmerized. "You know your way around computers?"

Ben ducked his head. "Something like that," he muttered.

She smiled faintly and continued watching him. A moment later, the case popped open, and Ben undid the straps. She peered over the edge, watching Hal blink.

He sat up quickly. "Bay? Who's that?"

"My name's Ben," he said. "I'm the son of a scientist working on the project. I, well, I want to make up for what the people here are doing. I'm going to try to help you guys."

Hal eyed him suspiciously. "Well, you can help by telling us how to get out."

Ben bit his lip. "Um, I – I don't really know..."

"It's fine," Bay said. "Just, what do you know?"

"Well, they want to drain your blood and use it for the backup subjects. That's what I heard. I wasn't supposed to, but I did. And which is why I let you out. I'm not going to be an accomplice in murder." Ben's green-gold eyes were cold.

"The backup subjects?" Hal repeated.

"Yes. The kids they have for...well, backup. In case the four of you don't work out. And this is exactly that case."

"God," Hal whispered. "Do they even care about us at all?"

Ben looked at them with sympathy. "No."

 **To make up for this depressing stuff, a fluffy Christmas chapter will be coming soon!**

 **Favorite person/part/line? Please?**

 **Well, by now you've probably figured out there's one last main character, the girl. So girl names, anyone?**


	5. Plan

Smoke and Mirrors

Chapter Five

Maya

 _"God," Hal whispered. "Do they even care about us at all?"_

 _Ben looked at them with sympathy. "No."_

Maya could tell Stephanie and Shawn cared about them. That was bad. That was a liability.

Stephanie turned to Maya. "Should I go after them?"

Maya hesitated. "I – no. Let them work it out. There's nothing we can do. It'll just get them both more worked up."

A ding sounded from Stephanie's phone. She looked down, her expression grim as she read the text. "You're right. Hal wants to plan an escape. Paul from security is monitoring the cameras, and he can hear their entire conversation. They're going to come back up here and act like everything's fine." She paused as there was another beep. "Mr. Sanders wants us to go down to the lab to wake the other subjects and let them have no interaction or knowledge of the others."

Maya stood up, setting her mug down on the coffee table. "Well? Let's go."

Stephanie nodded. "Okay, just – what's going to happen to Bay and Hal? I don't have the nerve to ask, but if I'm being honest..."

"They're going to be killed. They're a setback to the project," Maya explained.

Stephanie's face went pale. "Killed?" she echoed.

Maya rolled her eyes. "Yes, killed. Now are you coming or not?"

Stephanie frowned at her. "How could I come? I'd be aiding and abetting murder!"

"It's our job. If you want to keep it, then let's go." Honestly, some people.

Stephanie bit her lip. "...fine."

This made Maya slightly happier. There was still hope for Stephanie. "If it makes you feel any better, they wouldn't have had much of a life here anyway, taking orders and learning to kill people," she offered.

Stephanie didn't meet her eyes. "That most definitely does _not_ make me feel better."

Maya sighed. "Just...let's go. You'll get over it eventually."

Stephanie didn't respond.

They walked in silence to the elevator. When they got there, a boy was already inside when the doors opened. He looked about fourteen, with scruffy sandy brown hair and greenish eyes. He tapped his tablet, which was tucked under his arm, and if Maya had to guess, he was either nervous or just had a lot of energy.

Stephanie smiled at him. "Hey Ben."

He smiled back, a bright kind of smile that Maya hadn't seen in the Byrd Building before. "Hi, Stephanie. Any chance you know where Cat is?"

Stephanie's smile got wider. "What's it to you?"

Ben's face flushed. "Um, I heard, uh, she was with my mom, and-"

"Cat doesn't work anywhere near your mom and you know it," Stephanie said, poking his chest.

"Fine. Whatever. But do you know where she is?" Ben asked, narrowing his eyes.

Stephanie raised her chin. "I might," she said, a mischievous grin spreading. "What's in it for me?"

"Um..." Ben fished through his pocket. "Snickers bar?"

Stephanie plucked the Snickers bar out of his hand. "I'll be taking that, and Cat's in the Mirror Wing, lab 5. Good luck, kiddo."

Ben rolled his eyes. "You're only eight years older than me. You don't have the right to call me kiddo."

Stephanie patted Ben's head. He made a face at her.

Maya watched the exchange with interest. Ben glanced at her. "Um, I'm Ben Broderick...I kinda hang out here after school sometimes, I'm getting my license in two years, but until then I'm stuck here after school."

She stuck out a hand. He took it. "Mayumi Sumiko. I'm a geneticist, the head here."

"Nice to meet you, Mayumi," he said, with that same bright smile that seemed to be foreign anywhere in the building. She nodded in response as the elevator opened.

"Good luck with your girlfriend!" Stephanie called out to Ben as he walked down the hall.

"She's not my girlfriend!" he yelled back. Stephanie smiled fondly and opened Maya's lab.

"Good kid," Maya said, trying to break some of the earlier tension.

Stephanie's smile faded. "Yeah. I hate to see him anywhere near this. He's like a burst of fresh air, honestly. He doesn't belong here."

"Who's his mom?" she asked.

"Laurel Broderick, head neurologist? She's pretty important around here, otherwise Ben would have been kicked out a while ago."

She'd heard of Laurel before. She didn't know she had a child. Laurel was in her twenties, and she wasn't married. Well, it could have been one of _those_ cases...

"Was it...?" Maya didn't even finish the question.

"It's New York. Bad things happen to good people. Point is, Ben's here now, Ben's probably one of my favorite people here, everything worked out," Stephanie said brusquely.

Maya simply nodded, and went over to the remaining subject cases. "Did Mr. Sanders say to do the awakenings down here?"

"He didn't specify, but it's the only thing we can do right now. Bay and Hal can't get down here, because they don't know it exists. We couldn't do it upstairs, because they know that's where we do the awakenings. Well, usually do. So it makes sense to do it down here."

Maya nodded again, and grabbed a serum she had made in advance using a new feature she had discovered on her tablet, where advanced machinery (robots, basically) could be controlled from her tablet to do things remotely. It was a serum she labeled Jumping Spider, giving the user the ability to have highly enhanced flexibility and a phosphorous secretement on the fingertips to stick to any surface.

Test Subject Three was a boy, with dark curly hair. He was the second youngest, at fourteen. Test Subject Four, the girl, was the youngest, at thirteen. Maya injected the serum, then the stabilizing serum.

"Maya?" Stephanie said worriedly. Maya sighed inwardly. Why couldn't anything go according to plan?

"Yes?" Please don't let it affect the project. Please don't let it affect the project.

"Look at these brain scans." Stephanie rotated the holographic display to face her. Maya squinted. 

"I'm sorry, but I'm not a neurologist," she said, frantically trying to analyze them. "Do you know what it means?"

"I'm not a neurologist either, but I am a psychologist, and this is not the brain scan of a neurotypical child, I know that. If I had to guess, I'd say this could mean something in the autism spectrum."

Maya took a deep breath, then swore. "Mr. Sanders isn't going to be happy about this."

Stephanie's fingers flew across her phone. "I just sent a text to Mr. Sanders."

Her phone dinged. "He says..." Her eyes widened. "Oh my god."

"What?"

Stephanie shook her head, her blue eyes wide, and let Maya take her phone.

 _I prepared for this. You'll find the backups in lab 6._

Oh my god was right. It was one thing to actually use children that you genetically modify, but another thing to just keep children in...what, storage? What would've happened if the project had gone as planned? Would those kids be killed, too? She didn't want to admit it, but some of what Stephanie had been saying made sense. Some of it.

She thought that Bay and Hal were probably dead by now. The thought made her sicker than she wanted it to.

Stephanie gasped. She handed Maya her phone. It was a text from Mr. Sanders.

 _I'm pulling the plug on Test Subject Three manually. Body disposal will be taken care of, you can just leave it there._

Maya felt her stomach twisting into a knot. It was really the only thing they could do in this situation. An autistic boy wouldn't be of any help, he would just be a burden. But just because of that disability...

 _She was about eleven. Maya was in an unfamiliar doctor's office, not her usually pediatrician's. Her parents had told her it was a psychologist._

 _The doctor asked her a lot of questions, which she answered. She tried to answer them truthfully, but it was hard. She wouldn't be here if there wasn't something wrong with her._

 _In the end, the doctor told her there wasn't anything wrong with her. Her parents thought she had something called Asperger's, but under more examination she didn't, thankfully._

 _Still, it didn't stop her from wondering what made her parents think that something was wrong. Was something wrong with her?_

She typed out a message on Stephanie's phone, careful not to send it. She handed the phone back to Stephanie.

 **I don't want to do this anymore.**

Stephanie looked at her with obvious relief.

 **Thank god. But...there's nothing we can do to save him without Mr. Sanders being onto us. You know that, right?**

 **Yes. I know. But we don't have to get the backups. We can find Bay and Hal. We can help them get out of here.**

 **We can help all the kids,** Stephanie typed.

 **Well, that may be a stretch. But...it would be nice to think that.**

Maya didn't really think much about things that weren't logical and practical, but she was now. What did that mean? Did it mean something? Was this fixing her?

Was there something wrong with her in the first place?

She shook those thoughts out of her head. "You're right. Let's do Test Subject Four. Then the others."

Another pre-made serum was something she called the Yin serum, based off of Cloak's powers. It enabled the user to de-solidify their anatomical structure and a "cloak" of darkness – really unstable molecules – that the user could turn on and off around them, which could be used for teleportation. Like routine, she injected it in the girl.

Stephanie was monitoring the vitals. "Everything's normal," she said. Maya let out the breath she hadn't realized she was holding.

Thank god thank god thank god. Everything was going well. Stephanie showed Maya something on her phone. "Mr. Sanders told me the orphanage they came from was called St. Joseph's Home for Children. I looked in their records. A man under the name of John Ritter – who is employed by Mr. Sanders, I know – adopted a total of ten children. Four of these children are accounted for, as probably four for the backups. Then there's two left." Stephanie's blue eyes met Maya's.

"He didn't tell me anything about that," Maya said, and she was telling the truth. "They could have been used in other projects. You don't know. We might never know. But for now, can we focus on the problem at hand?"

Stephanie nodded. "Yeah. Sorry. Another thing I found was that Test Subject Four's original birth name was Lilith. I didn't find anything for the others yet. Some were too young to have names, or just weren't named."

"Lilith it is, then." Lilith sounded rather formal and depressing to her, but it did fit her powers of darkness, in a sense.

Lilith began to wake. "Should we tell her?" Stephanie asked.

Maya shrugged. "We might as well."

The exchange was inconspicuous enough not to be noticed on the cameras, but enough for Maya to know what Stephanie meant about telling her everything about Project Mirror. She had a feeling they'd have to get used to talking like that.

The door slid open, and Maya jumped a little, afraid someone had picked up on what they were planning, but it was just Shawn, Ben, and a girl she didn't recognize.

The girl had ombre hair that fell down her back in loose waves, and by the way Ben was looking at her, it was probably Cat, the girl he liked in the elevator. She suppressed a smile.

"Steph, I've been looking for you for-" Shawn looked around. "I feel like I don't know something."

"No, no you don't know the half of it," Stephanie said. "Um, Ben, I have a job for you, if you're interested..."

Ben nodded. "Sure."

"Come here." Stephanie typed something into her phone.

"I'll get to it." Ben opened a display from a sleek silver sphere sitting on the lab table that Maya always assumed was a decoration. A control hub, maybe?

They waited patiently for Ben to finish. It didn't take long, only about five minutes, which Maya was genuinely surprised by. Ben seemed good with technology.

"Done," he said, smiling, and went back to Cat's side.

Stephanie took a deep breath. "Finally. Ben just re-routed the camera feed to us five minutes ago. There's a security program that, ironically, was put in place by Mr. Sanders to be used if police were monitoring footage. It's a smart algorithm that creates scenarios and conversations it judges the people in the room would have about something related to whatever we were doing or talking about before. All Ben had to do was to hack into the server and dig it up," she explained. "Which honestly I have no idea how you do."

Ben ducked his head. "It's nothing, really. Just a few extra classes and a little bit of talent. But go on."

Stephanie then began to explain everything to them, even with the girl – Cat – in the room. They all seemed to trust her, but Maya wasn't so sure. Then again, she didn't know Cat. If there was one thing Maya had learned in the past few days, it was nothing is as it seems.

Shawn shook his head. "They're idiots. Idiots with hearts of gold, but idiots nonetheless. Didn't they know there were cameras?"

Ben shrugged. "I wouldn't know, if I were in their position."

"But you're not," Cat said. Maya noticed she had large hazel eyes, giving her a permanently doe-eyed look. "How can we understand them, if we're not one of them?"

"You make it sound like we're talking about aliens. They're people, Cat. Like us," Shawn said.

Shawn made sense. But so did Cat, in the way she said that they didn't understand Bay and Hal. "And we won't ever understand them. How can we understand anyone, really? We're not them and they're not us. The best we can do is to make an effort to help them," she tried to explain.

They nodded. "How, though?" Cat asked.

"Ever heard of a whistle blower?" Ben said, turning to her.

She squinted in confusion.

"A whistle blower is someone who tells the rest of the world about bad things going on that people don't know about. In this case, their illegal experimentation. Sanders Industries would get shut down in the blink of an eye if people found out. No one has, though, because I'm assuming people have just been too scared of Sanders to do something. I only found out about any of this right now. But I'm not scared. You know what my mom says? Act now and get scared later," said Ben, his green-gold eyes shining.

Cat glanced at Ben, then back at Maya. "You make a good point."

They all exchanged a look. "So we're good then? All on the same page? We know what we're doing?" Shawn asked.

They nodded. "Right."

Ben's phone vibrated in the back of his cargo pants. Pulling it out, he said, "My mom is asking me for a favor. To watch two people, and call her when they wake up."

"I'm guessing the two people in question are Hal and Bay?" Cat asked.

"You guessed right. She says they're dangerous individuals and she would never have me do this unless they weren't so short-staffed right now. Something about a flu that's going around." Ben glanced up. "I'm guessing it's not a flu."

Shawn and Stephanie nodded grimly.

"I'll go, then. But when they wake up, I'll call you. Then we'll get them out of here. Then make a plan to expose Sanders to the world," Ben said. "Sound like a plan?"

"Where'll we go?" Maya asked. "If we can even manage to get out of here."

Stephanie raised her hand. "I've got an apartment in Queens. Not huge, but not tiny, either. It'll do in a pinch."

"Is it listed on the company database? Did you list it as your home?" Ben asked.

"Yes..."

"Then we can't stay there. Can anyone afford to rent a completely new place?"

Maya thought of her hefty starting paycheck Mr. Sanders had given her to, quote unquote, "show her the benefits". She hadn't done anything with it yet, as she now lived in the Byrd Building. "I'll see what I can do," she said. "I think I can get a good apartment."

Ben nodded. "That's good. I'll get them out, find you – stay in here, or at least some of you stay in here – we'll be safer if we all go together, then we'll all be out of the building – and go to Maya's apartment."

"Sounds like a plan," Cat said, smiling at him. Maya didn't know if Cat noticed, but the tips of Ben's ears flushed red.

"I-I'll go," he stammered, skittering out of the room.

Cat raised her eyebrows, but didn't say anything.

Stephanie was on her phone, Shawn leaning over her shoulder. "Ooh, that's nice," Shawn said, tilting the phone towards Maya. "You got enough cash for this?" It was a townhouse. Maya looked at him incredulously. He shrugged. "We're gonna need space."

She sighed. "You're right. I was hoping not to spend all of my paycheck, but I suppose it's for a good cause."

Shawn and Stephanie smiled. "We'll take care of it," she said.

A noise came from the other side of the room. Maya turned to see Lilith already up. Maya's eyes widened. "How...?"

Lilith smiled. "A handy little trick. Something like a cloak of darkness."

"What did you hear?" Cat asked, her hazel eyes even wider, if possible.

"Everything. I was up when you," she pointed at Cat and Shawn, "and the other guy came in. I guess it was just a natural reaction."

Maya frowned. She didn't remember seeing that in Cloak's DNA. Was it possible the serums could mutate? It was highly unlikely, so she pushed the thought aside. She had probably just missed it, after all she wasn't there in person.

Her phone buzzed.

 **This is Ben. They're with me. Be prepared.**

 **. . .**

 **Well. Drama. I promise, though, Christmas fluff will be next chapter! I've got off school on Christmas Eve, so I'll be writing then.**

 **So I've had this in my head for a while now, and figured you might want to see it:**

 **Cast list**

 **Mayumi "Maya" Sumiko: Koyuki Kato**

 **Stephanie Hunter: Erin Richards**

 **Shawn Rider: Ryder Strong (as he appears in Boy Meets World)**

 **Bay: Ella Purnell**

 **Hal: 2008 Drew Roy**

 **Lilith: A young Aubrey Plaza**

 **Ben: Connor Jessup**

 **Cat: Long haired Camren Bicondova**

 **Tell me if I missed anyone.**

 **I hope I didn't make Maya have a change of heart too quickly. What do you think?**

 **Remember, favorite part/person/line always makes me happy!**


	6. Christmas Special

Smoke and Mirrors

Christmas Special

(This will have alternating POVS)

Maya

 **Just read the entire thing. Please.**

 _Blinking the sleep from his eyes, Hal stumbled into the living room towards the coffee maker. Instead of bumping into the counter like he usually did, he bumped into something tall, green, and pointy. A tree. "What the..."_

Stephanie and Shawn had been busy last night. Extremely busy. The living room was now a winter wonderland, a towering tree dominating the center of the living room, almost as tall as the towering ceilings of the townhouse, and there were garlands strewn (but tastefully strewn) everywhere. The light gray walls only added to the cheerfulness and brightness.

The tree itself was magnificent, with red and gold bulbs arranged in a neat pattern on the tree, lights coiled around it. Maya saw they arranged the presents – stacked high and spilling onto the dark hardwood floors – nicely underneath. She smiled; her job was to buy (with help from others picking things out, of course) and wrap presents. She had done a good job, if she did say so herself.

The kids had known what Christmas was. They hadn't really understood the religion part, as their teachers were never instructed to mention religion to them, and so religion was a foreign concept to them. ("What's the point of religion? Can't people just accept we're here and get over it?")

But they liked the general idea of Christmas, a time for family to get together, exchange gifts, and generally have a good time. So naturally, they wanted to participate. Maya was the in-between, as everyone gave her their gifts to wrap for some reason. She had been branded as the best gift wrapper. To be honest, she didn't mind, even though her hands hurt at the end of the day.

Stephanie and Shawn were passed out on the sectional together, Shawn smushed against Stephanie and Stephanie against him. Maya took a picture for blackmail. You never knew when you would need blackmail.

She went over to the coffee maker. It was dormant, meaning Hal wasn't up yet and hadn't turned it on. She was slightly worried by Hal's love of coffee, though a lot of teenagers were the same, so she didn't really give it much thought. Sometimes she forgot that the kids were, well, kids, and not adults.

Down the kids' hallway, she saw a light out of the corner of her eye turn on. The light came from under Bay's door. Bay was usually up early, and she usually went to bed early. Hal was a night owl, in sharp contrast.

Bay opened her door, and padded down the hall. She was in one of Hal's t-shirts (?) and a pair of sleeping shorts.

Her eyes widened when she saw the tree and decorations. "This is fancy," she said with a small smile.

"Indeed it is." She glanced at Bay's pajamas. "What's up with the shirt?"

Bay blushed. "All my pajama shirts are in the laundry. Hal gave me one of his to borrow." She tugged at the ACDC shirt. "I feel like I'm wearing a dress."

Maya smirked. "It's nice on you. I'm sure Hal thinks the same."

Bay turned her head. "Shut up."

She raised her eyes when she saw Shawn and Stephanie. "Should I...?"

"Nah. They're cute together."

"Well, aren't you a matchmaker today?" Bay said.

Maya shrugged. "What can I say? I'm in the holiday mood."

Bay shook her head, smiling. "I'm waking up Hal."

"Don't get murdered!" Ben yelled from his room.

"Apparently Ben's up," Bay said. "You can deal with him."

"Gee, thanks." Ben wasn't really something to deal with, though. Ben was a ray of sunshine in the dark world, everyone liked him. Including Maya.

He walked into the living room in sweat pants and a blue t-shirt with a fraying hem. "Good morning," he said, staring up at the tree. "Who did this?"

"Stephanie and Shawn. By the way, don't wake them up. I'm seeing when they'll wake up and how they'll react. Not to mention the fact I've got blackmail now."

He nodded appreciatively. "I respect that. Hey, do you know when Cat's coming over?"

Maya smiled. Maybe Bay was right about her playing matchmaker. "Cat came over last night. You fell asleep on the couch again. She said you were too cute to wake up. I think she's in the spare bedroom."

The tips of his ears flushed red, like they always did when Cat came up in conversation. "She said that? About me?"

"Yes. It's not surprising. It's clear you both like each other."

"I-I'm just gonna...go..." Ben stammered, heading towards the sectional. He sat on the chaise opposite of the one Stephanie and Shawn were on and stared at the ceiling. Maya rolled her eyes, in an affectionate way. Ben was smart, but not when it came to girls.

"Cat's coming," Maya said, smirking. "Prepare yourself."

"Shut up."

Cat was wearing a baggy t-shirt and shorts and her hair was a bird's nest, but Ben looked at her like she was the most beautiful thing in the world.

Times like this Maya was convinced she really _was_ playing matchmaker.

"Hey Benji," she said, sitting next to that.

"I hate that."

"I think you mispronounced love," she said, smiling.

Lilith came into the room, and rolled her eyes. "Some people are trying to have a decent morning without PDA, you know," she said, glaring at Ben and Cat.

"You're just jealous," Cat said.

Lilith stiffened. "Am not."

Maya knew Lilith was jealous. Lilith had admitted her crush on Ben to Maya late on Movie Night (traditionally Saturdays) when everyone else except for them was either asleep or in their rooms. Maya had sworn to keep it a secret, and had observed Lilith over the next few days. It made sense.

Lilith sat at the breakfast bar with Maya. If she had to be honest, Lilith was her favorite of the kids. Lilith often felt like the fifth wheel – literally – as Bay had Hal and Cat had Ben. The others were nice to her, sure, but Maya and Lilith could tell that they were a little off put by Lilith and her powers. Lilith just desperately wanted to fit in, but she didn't know how. Maya could relate.

And so Maya had become Lilith's friend, and vice versa. Maya knew that she was more accepted than Lilith was, but she never said that. She only thought it. She only thought many things.

Lilith was good company, though. She had a deadpan sense of humor, often making blunt comments that made Maya laugh. She was sarcastic, and liked to mock others. Sometimes she could get cruel, and that was where Maya nudged her.

Most importantly, Lilith knew when to be quiet. She didn't say much, and that was probably Maya's favorite thing about her. Lilith said that was her favorite thing about Maya. Maya agreed.

Lilith was tense, glancing at Cat and Ben out of the corner of her eye. Maya felt a pang of sympathy for her.

Her mind wandered to Test Subject Three. She knew she shouldn't go there, but she did anyway. It still made her breathing shallow and her eyes water, but she did anyway. She imagined if Lilith would feel different if he had lived. If he had turned out...normal.

She blinked, once, twice, three times. It was Christmas. Better to focus on other things. "Want to make cinnamon buns?" she asked Lilith.

"Why don't you just ask Cat and Ben? Baking is very romantic," she said in disgust.

Maya sighed. "Best to get your mind off it."

Lilith reluctantly slid off her stool. "You're right."

"You can get the package out. I'm going to the bathroom." Lilith nodded. What Maya said wasn't exactly a _lie_ , so to say, more of just half the truth.

She went down the second hallway, on the left side of the living room, which was the adult's hallway. She went into Stephanie's room, where she knew a box of Christmas things were.

She rifled through it until she came to a plant. A very specific sprig of plant, complete with three pointy leaves and two berries. She smiled, and tucked it inside the pocket of her own sweatpants.

Then she actually did go to the bathroom. She came back to the living room, where Stephanie and Shawn had woken up and were making the cinnamon buns while Lilith watched, smirking, as Stephanie chased Shawn around with a pan, and Cat and Ben were reading a picture book, Rudolph, judging by the reindeer on the cover.

She just couldn't shake the feeling that something was off about Cat, though. The way she looked, acted – it all seemed so...shady. Her father had once told her that sometimes you had instinctive responses to people, and most of the time those instincts were right. She didn't want to be right, for once.

Chimes sounded in the room, a ringtone. Cat's phone was ringing. Her face fell as she answered. "Okay. I'm on my way now." She looked at Ben. "Gotta go. My parents want me back for Christmas at their house."

Ben looked down. "Of course. Right. Have a good Christmas," he said tightly.

She smiled. "You too." She grabbed a backpack, and went out.

Ben set the book on the coffee table, staring up at the ceiling again. Maya glanced at Lilith, who looked giddy. She quickly wiped her smile off her face, though. "My mom and her boyfriend are going to his Christmas party. I'm probably going to have to go, too," he said, sighing.

Ben stayed at the townhouse most of the time. Maya knew that tensions were high at his apartment. He didn't like his mother's boyfriend, who spent most days and nights there, even though they'd only been together for a month. Between work and her new boyfriend, his mother didn't pay attention to him most of the time. So he wasn't exactly missed when he spent most of the week in the townhouse.

But according to him, his mother had been making an effort to reach out to him lately. So he was able to spend less and less time with Maya and the others, and his mother's boyfriend invited him, as well as his mother, to his Christmas party. Ben did not want to go, but he had no choice, he felt like he should support his mother.

Maya wondered how he could stay so... _bright_ all the time.

"Well, I guess we should get presents started, then," Lilith said.

…

Bay

…

She loved the shirt.

She wouldn't admit it, but she loved the shirt. It smelled like him – an odd combination of rain and vanilla. She loved the smell. The shirt.

She loved him.

She wasn't sure they were dating yet. She wouldn't even call what they were dating. It was beyond that. They had been through too much together to just be simply "dating". They were something, though. She knew that.

Bay didn't bother knocking. Hal never knocked (making for some...moments), so she never did, either. (Which made more moments.) Hal was asleep, his dark hair sticking up more than usual and drooling. She smiled.

Now. How to wake him up. Hal was notorious for staying up way too late and sleeping in way too late, and would practically murder anyone who woke him up what he deemed too early. Except for Bay. He wouldn't dare do anything to Bay, and she used that to her advantage, much to his annoyance.

She jumped on the bed, landing on her side next to him. He grunted in response, grabbing a pillow and throwing it at the wall. It came nowhere near her. "What?" he mumbled.

She wrapped her arms around him as best as she could. "Get up. It's Christmas."

"Sleep."

Bay kissed him on the cheek. "No."

"Yes."

"No."

He groaned, rolling around to face her. "At least you're not the worst thing to wake up to," he said, smirking.

"Of course I'm not. Now get up, the others are pretty pissed."

Hal pulled the comforter over his head.

"Do I have to drag you out?"

"Mmph."

"English, please."

He threw the blankets off. "No."

Bay smirked. "That's what I thought." She pushed him gently. Or she tried to. Hal fell off the bed.

"Ouch _._ "

"Sorry," she said sheepishly. _Sorry not sorry._

She swung her legs over the bed. "Better get up."

Hal said something muffled by the floor in response. She shook her head, smiling, and took his hand, dragging him across the hardwood floor.

"HEY!" he protested, picking himself up. "God. You didn't have to do that."

She smiled coyly. "Get a shirt on."

"You know you like-"

"Lilith and Ben are in the room. They definitely don't need to see you shirtless."

"True, true. You know..." Hal smirked. "I could always just take the one you borrowed."

Bay was about to say that was fine before she realized the shirt in question was the one she was wearing. Blushing furiously, she said, "Shut up."

Hal tugged on a Aerosmith t-shirt, nudging her playfully. "You do realize we're dating, right?"

"Well, I don't really see it as dating, so to say..." She paused. "It's more than that."

Hal shrugged. "Whatever you want."

Yawning, he walked out, Bay following him.

…

Lilith

…

She was so glad when the she-demon left.

Lilith realized that she herself could be called a she-demon, but honestly, Cat was more of one than she was. Something about Cat unnerved her, and it wasn't just the fact that Ben liked her.

Ben was an angel to her. His looks, his personality, everything about him was simply perfect. Then there was her. Ugly and ostracized.

Well, not exactly ostracized. The others were nice to her, but she got the feeling they were a little bit scared of her. And she was scared of herself, too. She didn't blame them, but that didn't mean she liked it.

She watched Stephanie and Shawn making (trying to make) the cinnamon buns for breakfast, which somehow ended up Stephanie hitting Shawn with a cookie sheet.

Ben was now on his phone. Lilith worked up the nerve to sit next to him.

 _He's nice. He won't freak out. I hope. Maybe. Okay, I don't know. But just do it._

Taking a deep breath, she sat down about a foot away from him. Close enough to be near him, but not invading his personal space. She could see that Ben was texting someone.

"Who're you texting?" she asked.

"Cat."

Ugh. Figures. "What's your deal with her? Are you dating?"

"It's not your life. Leave me alone."

Blinking, she stood up. That was uncharacteristically Ben. Did he just not like her that much?

She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and told herself to stop being a baby. It was just a person. Who happened to say something that she didn't take as nice. She was being a child.

Stephanie dropped the cookie sheet, as Shawn audibly sighed in relief. "Guys – Francesca just asked if she could bring her family over here because there was some sort of falling out between her parents? I think they're close to divorce...she wants to bring her mom's side over. Which includes her, her boyfriend, her mom, her sister, brother, brother-in-law, her grandmother, and her niece and nephew. They're fourteen and thirteen. Think we can do it?"

Lilith glanced at Ben, who was shaking his head no. Anything to tick him off. "Of course!" she said. "It's Christmas. Do something charitable."

Stephanie hesitated when she saw Ben, but nodded yes. "You're right, Lilith. It's Christmas."

Lilith grinned when she saw Ben's head fall back onto the couch. She decided she was going to try to hate Ben now. Drown the feelings of affection with anger.

…

Ben

…

His phone buzzed. He flipped it over, and it was Cat. Smiling, he looked at what she sent.

His smile turned into a frown when he saw what it was. It was a picture of her – she had changed into a red tank top that accentuated her prettiness, and leggings that showed off her flawless legs. Her hair was in a braid, and somehow she managed to look more stunning than usual.

But what really caught his attention was the boy next to her.

He had dark brown hair styled into a quiff and plastic, thick-framed black glasses and picturesque blue eyes. He was wearing a green t-shirt and red skinny jeans, holding a red Starbucks cup. Basically better looking than Ben would ever be.

 _Me and bae at Starbucks! Wish you were here!_ was her text. Another one popped up. The boy had his arm around Cat, and Cat was leaning into him. _Spencer is so cute, aren't you jealous?_ He frowned. That wasn't like Cat, but she was right. He WAS jealous. Incredibly jealous. _OMG SO SORRY. That was meant for Beck!_

Well, that explained it. He knew the texts would come up as read, but he didn't care. He didn't respond, instead staring at the boy – Spencer – and Cat. Ugh.

Someone sat next to him. It was Lilith. Lilith was okay. Kind of dark, to be honest, but she wasn't that bad. "Who're you texting?" she asked.

"Cat." And apparently her boyfriend.

"What's your deal with her? Are you dating?" God, he wished. But nope, Spencer the boyfriend took his place. And Maya said she liked him.

"It's not your life. Leave me alone." He wished he could take the words back as soon as he said them, but he couldn't, obviously. In his defense, though, she was being kind of rude by outright asking that. In his opinion. Did she just want to rub it in his face?

She left, and he considered apologizing. He didn't. Screw her. Screw Cat and her stupid boyfriend Spencer. Screw everything.

"Guys-" Stephanie said, "Francesca just asked if she could bring her family over here because there was some sort of falling out between her parents? I think they're close to divorce...she wants to bring her mom's side over. Which includes her, her boyfriend, her mom, her sister, brother, brother-in-law, her grandmother, and her niece and nephew. They're fourteen and thirteen. Think we can do it?"

Ben did not want to be around people. With his luck, Spencer would turn out to be Francesca's nephew. He shook his head no.

"Of course!" Lilith said. He squeezed his eyes shut. He really didn't want to be rude to Lilith, given that he already had, but honestly he was wishing for her to just go away right now. "It's Christmas. Do something charitable."

Stephanie looked at him, then Lilith. "You're right, Lilith. It's Christmas."

Ben cried internally. He was mourning the fact that his longtime crush did in fact not like him back. Which was serious and painful. He didn't want more people. He wanted Cat. And now he would never get Cat.

Hal stumbled into the room. "What the..." he said, eyeing the lights, the tree, everything. He sank down on the couch. "Hey Benji," he said. Apparently everyone called him Benji now. "Where's Cat?"

"At Starbucks with her boyfriend," he replied, making no attempt to hide the bitterness he knew was in his voice.

Hal winced. "Ouch. That's gotta hurt."

Ben glared at him. "It _does_."

Hal raised his hands in surrender. "Geez, okay. But there are other people out there, you know?"

Ben shrugged halfheartedly.

Bay came in a few moments after Hal, and they all decided to open presents then. Ben got an Imagine Dragons t-shirt from Hal, a framed picture of all of them – Hal, Bay, Lilith, Maya, Stephanie, and Shawn – from Stephanie, a set of throwing knives from Shawn (because THAT was a normal present), comic books from Bay and Maya (Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy), and a stuffed Tribble from Lilith. When he opened it, he looked at her incredulously. "You watch Star Trek?"

"A little bit," she said, her face flushing. "The Trouble With Tribbles is my favorite episode."

"Favorite movie?" he asked.

"The Wrath of Khan."

He nodded. "I respect that."

She smiled. Maybe Lilith wasn't that bad after all.

After presents, they all sort of dissipated to do whatever it was the others did in their spare time.

He changed, as did everyone else, and passed the time reading comic books on the sectional, from his stash in his room and from presents. He remembered when Cat had come with him one time to the comic book store. She had been freaked out by the stereotypically nerdy owners. He had overlooked it at the time. Now he was wondering if Cat was really as good as she seemed.

They were different, sure, but they got along. But would he be better off with someone more similar? Or at least someone who liked comic books as much as him?

He was jolted out of his thoughts when the doorbell rang.

Lilith opened it, and was immediately consumed by the Agnola family. Well, half of it.

Francesca beamed at them, hugging everyone in the room individually, including Ben. She smelled like flowers.

"I'm so, so sorry for doing this so suddenly, but once Dad started throwing things..." Francesca trailed off.

Her grandmother was in a wheelchair, and was being wheeled by Francesca's sister, Ben assumed. Her brother-in-law followed, then the niece and nephew. Francesca's boyfriend came in after them.

Francesca's niece was...well, she was cute. Her strawberry blonde hair was braided, and she had thin black plastic framed glasses on. She was wearing a tight white Hollister shirt and equally tight leggings.

Francesca's nephew had hair like Spencer's, much to Ben's disgust. He had amber eyes, though, and was wearing a black vintage ACDC shirt Hal would be proud of, and khakis.

"This is Amanda," she said, introducing her sister, "James," – her brother-in-law – "Holly," the girl, "Liam," her boyfriend, "and Isaac," the boy.

It then preceded somewhat awkwardly from there, the Agnolas had already exchanged presents, they just needed a place to eat Christmas dinner and get away from the violent part of Francesca's family.

Ben noticed Holly eyeing the stack of comics. It wouldn't hurt to just go up and talk to her like a normal person, right? Right? "Do you like comics?" Smooth. Real smooth.

She blinked. "Um. Yeah. I'm into the ones that are less mainstream, like New Warriors and Peter Quill's singular series, but I love some good old fashioned Avengers and Guardians."

"Be careful with her," Isaac said from behind me. "She'll go full out nerd."

Holly's face flushed. "Shut. Up."

"No can do. Not shutting up is one of my very attractive qualities," he said, walking away.

"That's what all my friends say," Ben said to her.

"Yeah. My friends too. And my little brother. And anyone in my family. I mean, I guess I kind of am a nerd, though, socially awkward, I read fanfiction, and I get called a hipster. Not to mention I go to the local comic book store," she said, her face still red.

"Seriously? I took my friend there once and she was just freaked out by all the geeks," Ben said, laughing a little.

"Well, I am one of those geeks."

"Me too," Ben said. He noticed his smile was back.

…

Lilith

…

Ben was having a conversation with Francesca's niece. Holly. She didn't like her already. Lilth was just as much of a geek as Ben was. More than Holly. She had to admit, Francesca's nephew, Isaac, was cute. And he made fun of his sister. She liked him.

She was sitting on the breakfast bar stool watching everyone talk and laugh and generally have a good time. Usually Maya would be next to her, but even Maya was out there talking with Stephanie, Shawn, and Francesca.

She saw someone sit next to her. Isaac. "What're you doing here?" she asked. It might have been rude, but she wasn't in the mood to talk.

"I'm sitting here. Is it illegal or something?"

Lilith shrugged. "Your sister gets along well with Ben."

Isaac nodded. "They look like they're married already."

Holly and Ben were poring over an old comic book, having a heated debate on whether Aquaman was an actual superhero or not.

"He's just some dude with the power to talk to underwater animals! That's not being a superhero! Since when has he ever saved anyone?" Ben argued.

"He saves underwater animals! He helps the environment!" Holly shot back.

Lilith and Isaac watched them. "Siblings suck," he said.

"I don't have any siblings."

Isaac blinked. "You mean he's not your brother?"

Lilith snorted. "Hardly. For the longest time I had a crush on him."

"Do you still now?"

Lilith thought. "Well, not really. It's pretty clear he's not interested. I guess I'll just have to get over him."

Her eyes met Isaac's startling amber ones. She liked them. They were pretty.

"How old are you?" he asked.

"What kind of question is that?"

"A reasonable one."

"You never ask girls their age."

"Why?"

Lilith paused. "I don't know, I guess it's just kind of insulting? Like you could say, wow, I thought you were fifty even though you're actually forty! Stuff like that."

"That's stupid. It's an honest question."

"Yeah, you're right. I'm thirteen."

"How old is he?" he asked, nodding at Ben.

"Fourteen."

"Well, there's part of your problem. Age differences are hard."

"It's only one year!"

"Some people see that as a problem. Maybe he does."

Lilith shrugged again. "Maybe. But people are kind of freaked out by me. I think that's my main problem."

"Why are they freaked out by you?"

"I guess I can come off as rude. Cold. Harsh. Which I sometimes am, I guess, but I'm not _evil_. And there's this." She slid her hand through the chair.

Isaac's eyes widened. "What the-"

She held a finger to her lips. "Shh. And there's more where that came from."

"Do people know...?"

"Yeah. Maya, Stephanie, Shawn, Hal, Bay, and Ben. I can also disappear at will, which is kind of freaky. Actually, everything about me is kind of freaky."

"I can't blame them. It's kinda disconcerting."

"It is. But I didn't ask for them."

Isaac shrugged. "You don't seem like a bad person to me. If they don't like you, it's their problem, not yours. Not everyone is going to love you, and you just have to live with that."

"I know. And I get that. But it's just, like, it wouldn't hurt to have one person like me, to not be freaked out by me for once, and just laugh at everyone else with me. That would be nice." Lilith wasn't sure what possessed her to tell all of her thoughts to Isaac, but she did anyway.

"I can do that." He smiled at her, his pretty amber eyes shining. Lilith smiled back.

…

Maya

…

Bay and Hal. Stephanie and Shawn. (They couldn't deny the fact that they were practically dating by now.) Ben and Holly. Lilith and Isaac. Francesca and Liam. Francesca's sister and brother-in-law. Francesca's mother and her grandmother. It made the matchmaker in Maya happy to see that everyone in the room had someone.

Well, except for her. But she was willing to overlook that tiny fact and be happy for the others.

Francesca looked at her phone, and frowned. "Amanda? Shouldn't Teddy be here by now?"

"Who's Teddy?" Maya asked, sipping her latte that Ben and Holly had gotten when they went to Starbucks to get food and drinks.

"My brother. He said he was coming, but he got stuck in traffic. But even New York City traffic doesn't take this long."

As if on cue, the doorbell rang. Maya went to open it. The man standing in front of her had dark hair, a smile like Ben's, and was wearing a tan overcoat and a charcoal shirt underneath, and skinny jeans. He looked about twenty one, and was handsome, if Maya was being honest.

"Hey, Maya?" She turned to the voice. It was Isaac. "Look what's above your head."

She did, and she saw just what she feared. Mistletoe. "Where'd you-"

"Lilith went through your pockets."

She glared at Lilith, who just smiled knowingly at her.

Teddy grinned at her. "If I have to kiss a pretty girl than this won't be the worst Christmas I've ever had."

Maya blushed, and they kissed, as the room cheered.

Outside snow fell and lights glittered.

* **wipes tear from eye* That was beautiful. And took me forever to write.**

 **Cast list:**

 **Holly: I based her off of me, but if you want a face claim, then Clare Foley -ish.**

 **Isaac: David Mazouz with amber eyes.**

 **Francesca: Peyton List**

 **Teddy: Dylan O'Brian**

 **Happy Holidays!**

 **Favorite part/person/line?**


End file.
